


Like a Rainbow with All of the Colors

by Aerica_Menai



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, M/M, Pride Parades, aroace!Nik, bi!Damen, gay ace!Laurent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-16 02:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19308619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerica_Menai/pseuds/Aerica_Menai
Summary: Laurent is out as gay, but closeted as ace...until he attends Pride and sees something that changes his life.





	Like a Rainbow with All of the Colors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grayraincurtain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayraincurtain/gifts).



> Happy Pride, everyone!
> 
> Inspired by this (https://king-smaurent.tumblr.com/post/185620323371/damen-and-laurent-meeting-at-a-pride-celebration) Tumblr post by king-smaurent and this (https://reh-sa.tumblr.com/post/174471351052/hm-it-is-june-already-have-a-happy-pride) image by reh-sa 
> 
> Written for the eternally amazing grayraincurtain, who sent me the king-smaurent Tumblr post - and proceeded to beta and cheerlead me through this (although I did some tweaking myself after it was sent back, so all remaining errors are mine and mine alone :P)
> 
> Title is from the song Me! by Taylor Swift feat. Brendon Urie.

Laurent didn’t consider himself closeted. He was out as gay, that had been an easy, quick (and entirely expected) conversation with his family and friends; no more closet. Or so he had thought.

As he got older, he decided he was definitely gay, but there was another dimension to it. His other friends had soon become interested in relationships – and not just handholding and kissing and cuddling, but also sex. While Laurent was fine with the first three, he had no interest in the latter. A quick Google search provided the answer – he was almost certainly asexual. The problem was – he started to wonder as he read more and more stories about bad reactions to asexual coming outs – did he even have to come out as asexual? He was already out as gay, and a bit of a loner anyways; his lack of interest in a romantic partner could be easily explained by a number of factors for a long time, maybe even the rest of his life; there was no need to subject himself to possible acephobia. 

Auguste knew, of course, because Laurent couldn’t keep anything from Auguste, and despite Auguste’s insistence that his family and friends would accept him – “Statistically far more of the LBGT+ community is accepting than acephobic, Laurent!” he would argue – Laurent would just sigh and reply, “Yeah, but what if even one of them doesn’t accept it? What if it becomes a wedge between them and the accepting people in the family, in my friend group? I just…can’t take that chance.” And Auguste would relent, because he knew that Laurent was afraid of losing the few relationships he had in his life due to his introversion and sometimes off-putting personality…but it still upset him to see Laurent hiding a part of himself from people who only wanted to love him.

*~*

For months and months, Nicaise and Ancel – Laurent’s roommates, gay and pan respectively – had been begging him to attend Pride with them this year. Last year they didn’t know him well enough to invite him, but this year, they really wanted Laurent to come and enjoy the festivities with them. For a long time, Laurent resisted – he didn’t like crowds, he didn’t enjoy loud noises, he didn’t enjoy being outside for too long (he burned far too easily) and why subject himself to all of that when he could just have his own much smaller, much quieter, (more honest, he quietly admitted to himself), inside celebration of his own? But Nicaise and Ancel didn’t give up, and then they got Auguste involved – and Laurent caved. But only to a point! He wore an outfit he chose, pulled out of his own closet, and even managed to attend entirely glitter-free (despite Nicaise’s best efforts to deny him his dignity). 

He wore a thin black turtleneck, black skinny jeans, white and gray sneakers, and a small rainbow flag pin. Nicaise and Ancel teased that he looked like a crow among a flock of rainbow parakeets, but the joke was on them – Laurent stood out among the crowd and received more attention than both of his roommates combined, to his aggravation and their glee. 

The parade hadn’t even started yet, and between the sun and the unexpected attention, Laurent was checking his watch every couple of minutes, wondering why on earth he had let himself be convinced this would be anything but a bad idea – until the parade started to go by. Yes, most of the floats were big corporations trying to take advantage of an exploding customer base, but Laurent had to admit he was getting swept up in the festive atmosphere. 

Laurent was just starting to relax when he saw something that just absolutely shocked him to his core – on the next float to pass where he was standing, there was an ace flag flying. Not just the flag, but the man holding it – gorgeous, buff and so much bronze skin on display, as he was wearing only a bi flag as a cape and what looked to be the bottom half of a purple toga that only came down to his mid-thigh – absolutely stunned him. He had not at all expected to find another ace at the parade, much less one who was so open about his sexuality. In fact, Laurent realized, no way this deific being was ace – and just as this thought crossed his mind, another half-dressed, equally bronze (if not quite as buff) man jumped onto the float and took the flag. The second man’s cape was the aromantic flag and his half-toga was white instead of purple. Just as Laurent steadied his camera to take a picture of the ace flag, the two men exchanged a brief but heartfelt hug, and he immediately captured the image of an allo literally embracing an aroace person. He knew it was slightly creepy, but he couldn’t help it – this was his first time seeing any sort of proof that his brother might be right, that the community might not have been quite as acephobic as the internet had led him to believe. For the rest of the parade, Laurent was in a quiet daze, his entire worldview having to reorient around this new idea that acephobia was not the norm, that maybe he could come out to his friends and family and not expect rejection. 

When he came out to his parents for a second time, with Auguste’s help, looking at that picture was the last thing he did before walking downstairs to have the conversation – which didn’t come without questions but overall went very well; it gave him the courage to come out to Nicaise, Ancel and his other LGBT+ friends, who quickly accepted this new aspect of his identity; it gave him the strength to verbally tear into the nasty anons who popped up in his Tumblr inbox after his post about being asexual rather than retreating within himself - that photo changed his life, entirely for the better. He had built the two men in the photo up into symbols of the community, far larger than life and untouchable.

So it was quite the shock to have Auguste look over his shoulder at the picture one day and ask why he had a picture of Auguste’s gym buddies on his phone. 

*~*

When Auguste learned about how important his two friends had become in Laurent’s day to day life – how they were the impetus for Laurent finally taking Auguste’s advice and coming out fully to the people in his life – he knew that Laurent should get to meet his heroes, and Damen and Nik were some of the best people he knew; they were going to get along great once they met. But Laurent shot down Auguste’s first suggestion for a meetup – out of shock, probably, so Auguste tried again. And again. And again. After the seventh rejection (each time a different excuse, sure, but rejecting the idea all the same), Auguste had had enough. His little brother was too stubborn for his own good, Damen and Nikandros would be great friends for him to have; this meeting was going to happen whether Laurent liked it or not. 

(Laurent was scared witless of meeting his heroes, knowing that these people that he had built up so much in his mind are real human people that his brother knew, that he could meet with – people that he could offend and alienate and hurt – that he kept shooting down Auguste’s meetup ideas; he knew it was irrational, he knew his brother was going to succeed in the end, but he would keep living shoulder-deep in denial for as long as he could, thanks.)

*~*

In the end, Auguste convinced Laurent to come with him to the gym where he met Damen and Nik. It was at night, when the gym was almost to entirely empty, “and Damen and Nik won’t be there,” Auguste promised (as he quickly texted a demand for Damen and Nik to visit the gym forty-five minutes after the time the text was sent or he wouldn’t be held accountable for his actions, out of Laurent’s sightline). Knowing that the promise is almost certainly a lie, Laurent accepted his fate and went to the gym with Auguste, not knowing that without the gym they were about to enter, Auguste would never have met Damen or Nik.

*~*

Auguste had been looking for a new gym after his last one became too overrun with stereotypical, homophobic gym bros - not the type of environment Auguste tolerated. He had heard great things about Makedon’s though, so here he was, trying it out.

He came out of the changing rooms, tying his long blond hair into a tight bun, only to spot a couple of men who clearly came often...checking him out? Maybe? 

Auguste was straight, but he wasn’t blind - these guys were attractive and the attention was flattering - so he headed over to introduce himself and maybe make a couple friends; better fellow gymmates attracted to him and being open about it than homophobic comments about the length of his hair or other “emasculating” aspects of his appearance. 

As he walked closer, the slightly larger of the two men leaned forward, bright grin taking over half of his face. “Hey newcomer; welcome to Makedon’s! My name’s Damen, and this is Nik.”

Auguste smiled back but was not deterred from his mission. “Hi, I’m Auguste. Mind scooting over a bit so I can start my benchpresses?” 

Damen’s smile became a smirk. “Down to business, I like it. Need a spotter?” 

Auguste grinned. “I’d love one if you’re volunteering.” 

The other man - Nick, he thought Damen said - rolled his eyes and muttered quietly to Damen, “I’m off to the elliptical, try not to suffocate each other with your testosterone levels.”

Auguste smirked internally as he leaves; good to know not everyone in the gym was as competitive as he and Damen were. 

And indeed, Damen’s spotting, while serving its purpose, also gave him an excuse to playfully jab at Auguste’s starting weight and goaded him into adding weight faster than he normally would - it became a competition, who could lift more, run faster, do better; until Damen dropped one of the free weights he was curling and dented the gym floor, only barely missing another lifter’s foot. 

At the sound, a large man in a tank top with the word “Owner” on it in big blocky letters came barreling out of an office in the back of the gym, thundering, “Damen Akielos! What did I tell you about taking care of my floors?? Is anyone hurt?” After everyone assured him there were no injuries other than on the floor’s part, the man – who must be Makedon, Auguste realized – glared at Damen. “Okay, you and your new buddy here need to get out of my gym.” 

Head bowed, Damen nodded (Auguste could practically see the folded ears and tucked-in tail of a scolded puppy), put away his and Auguste’s weights, and dragged him off to the changing room. Nik followed in their wake, after assuring Makedon that it wouldn’t happen again.

Auguste was shocked, having never been kicked out of a gym before, but Damen and Nick assured him that there wasn’t any reason to worry, Makedon was just a little hot-headed and overprotective; he never kicked anyone out permanently over just a little accidental damage to his gym. They invited him out for post-workout drinks, and Auguste easily agreed. The rest of the night was a bit blurry - trying to keep up with Damen and Nick was hard by itself, but then Makedon stopped by with some self-brewed moonshine that really put Auguste on his ass; next thing he knew, he was waking up on Damen’s couch with a hangover from hell while Damen whipped up an omelet. The night made fast friends out of all three of them - a strange trio, to be sure, but one that had worked well for them so far.

*~*

As Auguste said, Makedon’s was basically empty when they entered, one other lifter at the free weights but otherwise the two brothers were alone on the gym floor. While Auguste went straight for the benchpress machine (since Laurent couldn’t spot for him and he didn’t want to disturb either Makedon or the other lifter), Laurent headed to the elliptical, where he stayed for the entirety of Auguste’s workout. 

As Auguste walked over to Laurent, workout complete, Damen and Nik slowly peeked out from Makedon’s office, where they had been holed up since Auguste texted. Auguste had talked a lot about his adorable genius brother, in a way that left both men thinking that Laurent was much younger than Auguste, somewhere in the late middle school/early high school range – so they were very surprised when Auguste told them that Laurent was 24; four years younger than Auguste, but only a couple years younger than Damen and Nik. They were very curious about this younger deVere brother, and the first sight of him took their breath away.

Well, took Damen’s breath away, anyway. If Auguste looked like the love child of Loki and Captain America from the MCU, Laurent looked like the love child of Loki and a blond fairy - Auguste was beautiful, but Laurent was practically ethereal. While Damen was swooning (much harder than he ever had for Auguste, in that brief window before they realized how very straight he was), Nik just sighed. Laurent looked like all of Damen’s dreams come to life and then some – there was going to be a lot of pining and sappy Damen in his future. 

Once Laurent had come off the elliptical to meet his brother - a little shocked that Damen and Nik hadn’t shown up yet - he heard some scuffling from the office behind him, and a loud, deep voice booming, “Enough of your feelings in my office, go meet the guy, Damen! Jesus, Nik, get him out there and make sure he doesn’t trip over his own feet on his way over there.”

And with that, Damen and Nik were unceremoniously thrust out of Makedon’s office and onto the gym floor, metaphorically into the spotlight of Auguste and Laurent’s attention. Auguste just rolled his eyes, used to all the dramatics by now, but Laurent was frozen, seeing what had been a small picture for so long now looming in front of him, much larger than he remembered. 

Damen, having absolutely no tact, had been puzzling over why Laurent looked so familiar, before finally placing it and blurting out, “Oh my god you’re that gorgeous gay guy from Pride, the one who took that picture of me and Nik! I was hoping to get to meet you again, this is such a small world!”

And so saying, Damen being an affectionate and physical person, he went in for a hug. (Auguste could almost see the perked-up ears and wagging tail of excitement.) Laurent, who not only was in shock that he was even meeting this human mountain but also not a fan of other people touching him to begin with, of course dodged out of the way – leaving Damen to swoop in and try to hug empty air, which led to his quickly overbalancing and falling flat on his face on the gym mat with a loud boom. 

Laurent was mortified (while Auguste imagined Damen as a dog, Laurent was a definitely a cat – one whose ears are pinned to its head in embarrassment and fear at the moment) and the whole thing could have ended in disaster; except for Makedon’s intervention. The man must have left his office just in time to watch Damen fall, and his response was an almost bored drawl, voice ringing out across the gym: “Damen, do we need to review the meaning of personal space and how it differs from person to person?”

“No,” Damen grumbled into the mat (Auguste pictured drooping ears and a tail tucked between his legs) and the sudden mix of mortification and utter confusion vying for dominance over Laurent’s face just sets Auguste off – he starts cackling uncontrollably, to the point that he falls over. At the sight of Auguste’s undignified sprawl, Nik also starts laughing hysterically, sprawling over a workout bench, and Damen, who sits up just in time to see the other two men fall, can’t help joining in the hysterical laughter. Just as they start to quiet down, Laurent’s quiet drawl, “I’m surrounded by idiots,” sets them all off again – even Makedon, this time. 

*~*

Damen was not sure exactly how this actually happened. He remembered going to the bar with everyone – Makedon bringing his griva, as usual – and Laurent taking shot after shot of the stuff with surprising aplomb, impressing him, Nik and Makedon. Auguste, on the other hand, just shook his head at his brother’s antics – probably knew then what the rest of them knew now: Laurent could drink a lot and seem perfectly fine, but that only lasted until he had to stand up, after which it seemed like the alcohol affected him all at once. And after that much griva, Laurent was smashed. What Damen didn’t really remember was the part where everyone else decided it was okay to let Damen take Laurent home – instead of his brother, or calling one of his roommates? Yes, Laurent had clung to him like a limpet, but surely that didn’t mean he couldn’t be pried off? (As Auguste could attest: yes, yes it did. And if Auguste was going to trust any of their group to escort his very drunk little brother home besides himself, it was Damen.)

So that was how Damen found himself digging through a giggling Laurent’s coat pockets for his keys and letting himself into a (thankfully) empty apartment. He dragged Laurent to the door labeled with a beautifully scripted L and wrangled him to sit on the bed, so he could take off the poor kid’s shoes and at least his outer layers. While he did so, Laurent started rambling something about – bronze gods? Gods made of bronze, maybe, and something to do with skirts? Bronze, crossdressing gods? Damen was extremely confused, but that’s what he got for trying to understand the ramblings of someone so drunk. 

He finally got Laurent under the covers and turned to leave – until Laurent grabbed his shirt and uttered his first coherent words since they left the bar. “Please stay? Wanna talk in the morning.”

Damen didn’t want to deny that adorable pout, but he had to ask – “Where on earth would I even sleep? You barely fit into that bed by yourself, and I can’t sleep in either of your roommates’ beds.”

Laurent just blinked at him. “Please?”

Damen groaned. He had seen a couch in the main room of the apartment, one that was probably big enough to fit him – and it’s not like he hadn’t slept in worse places. He folded like a cheap suit. “Fine, I’ll stay. I’ll even make breakfast in the morning. But you better remember what it is you wanted so badly to talk about.” 

Laurent scrambled for the notepad on his nightstand and the pen next to it, which Damen picked up and handed to him after watching the scrabbling go on for too long. Laurent scribbled something, dropped them back on the nightstand and promptly passed out. Damen was curious what the note said, but guessed that it would be illegible to someone not drunk and not Laurent, as well as rude on his part to invade his host’s privacy, even if he hadn’t expected to be a guest tonight. He sighed and headed out to sleep on the couch; hopefully there would be ingredients for a good breakfast in the morning he could use to bribe Laurent for answers.

*~*

Laurent woke up with a pounding headache. He turned over, towards his nightstand – where someone had thoughtfully left a glass of water, a banana and ibuprofen on top of…his notepad? His roommates would never be so thoughtful, so who…

He suddenly realized with a rising dread that Damen took him home after the bar last night – and got him into bed. Had he said something? Why else would Damen have stayed? Unable to continue thinking with the pounding in his head distracting him, he ate a few bites of the banana (his stomach couldn’t take anymore, but then at least he could take the ibuprofen not on an empty stomach), followed by the pills and the entirety of the glass of water. As he moved the glass, he saw that his notepad was open and he had written…something in it, almost certainly last night due to the uncharacteristic illegibility. Laurent squinted at the scribbled drawing, since the words next to it were not something he could read at the moment. It was a stick figure, that much was obvious, with a trapezoid-like shape around what might be a waist? But the figure was also lying on something…or was it something the figure had on its back? Laurent froze. He knew what this was. He knew what his drunk self was trying to say. He took a deep breath. If he could have this conversation with his family, people who had no idea what asexuality was, he could have it with Damen, who at least had a close friend who was ace. He could do this.

*~*

Damen had a surprisingly good night’s sleep on Laurent’s sofa. He wasn’t surprised to be the first person awake – he and Laurent hadn’t come in before two a.m., and the other two roommates must have come in after them, not to mention his usual early rising for work (which he had already texted Nik that he wouldn’t make the night before) – but he was surprised to find a well-stocked refrigerator; not usually found in an apartment full of twenty-somethings. He took full advantage, whipping up a large mass of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon for the whole apartment – because why not – which brought the roommates out. They were pretty surprised to hear that he was there because of Laurent – admitting that of course he had to be, it was just very out of character – and other than introducing themselves as Nicaise and Ancel, pretty much left him alone, preferring to gobble down the provided breakfast. 

About half an hour after Nicaise and Ancel had shown up, Damen heard stirring from Laurent’s room. It took another fifteen minutes for Laurent to emerge, and once he did, his roommates made themselves scarce. Damen was left to silently heat up what was left of the breakfast feast and serve it to Laurent, who passed him what was left of his banana in thanks. Damen smirked and ate it as Laurent wolfed down his much more substantial meal. 

After the food was eaten and the pair were washing dishes, Laurent cleared his throat. “You’re probably wondering why I asked you to stay last night.”

Damen kept washing. “Yeah, I am. Are you ready to tell me?”

Laurent took a deep breath. “Yeah. I, uh…I’m ace.”

Damen nodded. “Cool.”

Laurent smiled. “Yeah. The only reason anyone other than Auguste knows is because of you and Nik at the parade.”

Damen turned around to face him, heedless of the dripping plate in his hand. “What?”

Laurent sighed, grabbing the plate from his unresisting hands and placing it back in the sink before grabbing a paper towel to mop up the spilled water. “I’ve been out as gay for a while but…I was worried about coming out as ace. I had heard mostly bad things online and…well. I was worried.”

Damen started silently washing dishes again, letting Laurent talk.

“Now I know I shouldn’t have been, but…it really took you and Nik hugging to inform me that the community was not as acephobic as I had feared, and if the community was more accepting than I had feared…maybe my family would be, too.” Laurent flushed. “Anyway, I just…I know that what you and Nik did was small, really small in the scheme of things. But to me, it means more than I can say, and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for giving me the courage to be honest and show my family and friends who I really am, and not just part of it.”

Damen put down the dishes and warned Laurent, “I’m going to hug you now.”

Laurent grinned up at him. “I would expect nothing less.”

And so Nicaise and Ancel were treated to the sight of their cold roommate being swept up in a hug by one of the warmest people they had ever met in the middle of their kitchen, a far more public locale than Laurent would have been okay with, in their previous experience. “Bet you twenty bucks if they’re not already dating, they will be in two weeks,” Nicaise whispered to Ancel. “Done,” Ancel whispered back, “I bet it’ll take a month.”

*~*

As it turns out, they were both wrong; it took two months. Auguste collected his winnings with a huge smile on his face – the greatest prize was knowing that his brother was dating one of the best men he knew, and how happy they both were.

**Author's Note:**

> While it didn’t make it into the fic (other than a slight mention of Damen needing to get up early for work), one of the main reasons Nik and Damen were at the gym so often was they co-own a bakery (Damen does the actual baking, Nik does the marketing and accounting) – and after realizing that dating Damen got him daily access to mouthwatering pastries, Laurent too started regularly attending Makedon’s. Makedon, who was quite fond of Laurent after he displayed his ability to drink griva with the best of them, was extremely pleased with this development.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
